Yemen's fragile truce enters its second month on Eid Al-Fitr

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Wael Jubarah had a great time spending the morning at Al-Thawra Park near Sanaa Airport on May 4. He was celebrating Eid like thousands of Yemenis who had gathered in the park to participate in the electric games and enjoy the picturesque view of the lush garden.

"We in the Eid are all pleased by the ceasefire, and we want this to be the beginning of the end of the seven-year war," Jubarah told Al Mayadeen English.

Hans Grundberg, the UN special envoy to Yemen, helped broker a two-month ceasefire between Ansar Allah and the coalition of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which took effect on April 2.

Under the agreement, the port of Al-Hudaydah will be opened to 18 fuel ships and Sanaa International Airport will be able to handle 16 arrivals and departures during the two months of the ceasefire.

The first flight was scheduled to take place on April 24 but was canceled by the coalition on the grounds that passengers' passports should be issued by the Saudi Arabia-formed government, not the Ansar Allah-led National Salvation Government in Sanaa.

The Yemeni resistance movement Ansar Allah records dozens of ceasefire violations by the Saudi Arabian coalition every day, including airstrikes in Al-Hudaydah and Marib provinces.

"The first month of the humanitarian ceasefire has ended without the countries of aggression allowing flights to Sanaa airport, which is an obvious violation of the agreement," tweeted the head of Yemen's National Negotiating Delegation, Mohammed Abdusalam. 

"In addition to the ongoing obstructions to the arrival of ships in the port of Al-Hudaydah, military violations continue as a spy plane launched two attacks in Sirwah in Marib province this morning," Abdulsalam added.

The Director General of Sanaa International Airport, Khaled Al-Shayef, said that 1,400 passengers were expected to arrive and another 1,400 were expected to depart when the commercial flights would operate. 

"Yemeni expatriates dreamed of visiting their relatives in Sanaa for Eid after being separated for ten years," Al-Shayef told Al-Masirah TV.

Asked about his thoughts on the coalition's refusal to resume flights in and out of Sanaa airport, Jubarah said, "The coalition's commitment is elusive. We were happy that the airport will be opened at least for humanitarian flights, but days prove that it is an enemy of peace and is not serious about sticking to a coming agreement."

'West does not want peace'

The Yemeni resistance movement Ansar Allah records dozens of cease-ire violations by the Saudi Arabian coalition every day, including airstrikes in Al-Hudaydah and Marib provinces.

"They have no principles to respect the ceasefire they signed," Jubarah said in an interview for Al Mayadeen English. "This is because the West does not want there to be peace in Yemen."

Jubarah stressed that the coalition of aggression views the ceasefire as "a stage to gather forces to attack the Yemenis again."

"Ansar Allah should not give the coalition a chance to control even an inch of our land," Jubarah said. "They should respond quickly and immediately by closing the airports of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and restricting their seaports, as they are doing to us."

Ansar Allah respects the ceasefire

Mohammed Mujahed, a Yemeni farmer in Sanaa, said, "The truce has pleased us during Ramadan and Eid."

"Because of the ceasefire, we are no longer afraid of airstrikes, which always hit civilian objects. We can visit any place now. The war is bad," Mujahed, who lives in Sanaa, told Al Mayadeen English.

"I expect Ansar Allah to observe the ceasefire until the last day. Then they will respond to the ceasefire violations with targeted attacks, similar to their last attack on the Aramco oil depot in Jeddah on March 25," Mojahed added, and his friend next to him nodded.

Mohammed Ismail, a horseman, said the two-month ceasefire was "good" because he had made a lot of money, unlike before the ceasefire.

"Before the ceasefire, I earned 50,000YR-70,000 YR a day," 17-year-old Ismail told Al Mayadeen English in Al-Thawra Park.

"During the ceasefire, I earn between 150,000YR and 200,000YR a day," Ismail added.

'They will soon realize their mistake'

A member of the National Negotiations Delegation, Abdul-Malek Al-Ejjri, said in a tweet, "Every day that passes since the ceasefire closes one of the windows for peace."

"We wanted to use the ceasefire as an opportunity to move forward and solve the problems related to lifting the siege and ending the war, but the countries of aggression have turned it into a setback that has restored peace in dark places," he tweeted.

He added, "There is a miscalculation of our position and they will soon realize their mistake, but then it will be too late."

'They are also preparing to respond to Israeli violations'

"I have no Eid. I work day and night to sell notebooks and pens, but my profit is very small," said Saad Ali Al-Dhaifi.

"The ceasefire has neither positive nor negative effects on me," Al-Dhaifi told Al Mayadeen English.

"Those who violate the ceasefire are mercenaries of the Saudi-UAE coalition. They do not care if civilians are at peace or at war.

"If they cared about the Yemeni people, they would have opened the airport for humanitarian flights, but they are selling out to the American devil," Al-Dhaifi added.

Asked what he thought of the coalition's refusal to open the Sanaa airport, he said, "The coalition wants money from the Americans, just like the Yemeni mercenaries want money from the Saudi coalition because the Saudis are fighting on behalf of the Americans."

"Ansar Allah will not only respond to the Saudi coalition's violations, but they are also preparing to respond to Israeli violations such as the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque," Al-Dhaifi stressed.